Today’s Pigskin Daily Fantasy Plays: Week 9

With six teams on bye this week, it’s going to be tougher to win big daily fantasy tournaments. But if you want to come out ahead and on top of your leaderboard, get ready to take some chances. Here are some of my favorite plays this weekend:

Ryan Tannehill ($5,600) vs Jets

The Jets are not a difficult team to figure out. The strength of their team is the front three and they can stop the run better than anyone in the league. However, they are one of the worst pass-defenses in the league. Through eight games, the Jets are surrendering 290 yards passing per game, along with the 24th most fantasy points.

It’s a juicy matchup for Tannehill and a bargain at $5,600. Miami’s quarterback notching 250 passing yards with a few scores is very realistic, along with his moderate rushing totals.

Todd Gurley ($5,800) vs Panthers

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

During the summer, Todd Gurley was a consensus top five pick and finished as the number one running back in terms of ADP. This week, there are nine running backs who are more expensive than Gurley in the Sunday slate of games alone.

It’s not a great match-up for Gurley, but it’s likely going to be the cheapest he will be all season. The Panthers give up the third fewest rushing yards per game, but with the Rams on bye last week, I have the feeling they are going to do their best to get Gurley involved.

Another bit of encouraging news for Gurley is that the Rams have done a better job at finding targets for Gurley. He’s had at least 35 receiving yards in his past four games and has a total of 18 receptions in the same time frame. He’s a good bet to score this week and should see a pretty heavy workload versus the Panthers.

Theo Riddick ($4,900) at Vikings

In case you haven’t noticed, Riddick is having a career year and is one of the best running backs in the NFC not named Johnson or Elliott. Riddick is a perfect play this week against the Vikings for a variety of reasons. Usually, Minnesota is stout against the run, forcing teams to pass. And that fits perfectly with the game-script that Riddick owners desire.

With Ameer Abdullah out of the lineup, Riddick has been on fire. He’s scored at least 26 points in his last two games and with his cheap price tag again this week, he’s a perfect RB2

Mike Wallace ($5,600) vs Steelers

Do you believe in the “revenge game” narrative? Even if you don’t, Wallace is a nice WR2 this week at a reasonable price. In Wallace’s last four games, he’s seen at least nine targets in all of them. His problem is the touchdowns just haven’t been there as of late. The Steelers struggle on the road to stop the pass and I expect Joe Flacco and the Ravens to take a ton of shots down the field. If Steve Smith misses this contest, Wallace should expect to see an even bigger workload. All you need is for Flacco to connect on one deep shot for Wallace to out-perform his price tag. I expect that to happen against his former team.

Sammie Coates ($4,300) at Ravens

By all accounts, Sammie Coates is healthy again. And boy, is it ever a great matchup for him this week. The Ravens give up the 27th most DK points to opposing receivers and their best corner, Jimmy Smith, will shadow Antonio Brown throughout the game. That leaves a lot of single coverage for the Steelers’ best deep weapon. In Coates’ last two games when he and Roethlisberger both finished the game, he’s caught 19 passes for 218 yards and two scores. There’s a lot of upside here.

How lucky are you feeling?

Antonio Gates ($3,000) vs Titans

This is a gut-call and it has something to do with the horrendous collection of tight ends we have this week.

Gates is cheap and he’s the most talented tight end in the price range. The Chargers are out of receivers with Travis Benjamin nicked up, so I fully expect Gates to see his eight to ten targets. Gates also has the fortune of playing a pass defense that is giving up the 26th most DK points to opposing tight ends. And oh yeah, he’s got Phillip Rivers throwing him the ball.

I’m willing to take a chance here on one of the all-time greats.